WHATS GOOD FAM!!

It’s been a while.

We hope you’re doing well, healthy, prospering, and making it through these strange times alright.

As you may know, we took an extended hiatus. Right when the pandemic began in 2020, we were in the middle of our most productive period of growth - as a band, as a couple, and as people. During the lockdown, we did our best to pivot and went all in on every new digital opportunity that presented itself: Twitch, social media, Zoom performances, Discord networking, online classes, YouTube series, Audius and crypto in general, Instagram and Facebook ads, etc. We self-produced our 2nd full length studio album “illustrations” and (after getting vaccinated) played our first IRL festival in Virginia.

By the end of 2021/beginning of 2022, after putting 110% nonstop into every new digital/online venture, getting covid, deciding to move out to a new home together, and our computer breaking… we were burnt out. Depressed. Discouraged. It was fun doing everything together, but it’s all just been so different than how we envisioned, how we planned… what we were prepared for. And we’re STILL in this damn pandemic. So, we took a long break for our mental health and to refocus our priorities.

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Now finally we are living together with a decent studio setup, built a new computer, and officially became an LLC. That’s right baby, illexotic LLC is now incorporated! We’re still adjusting to our new work schedules, figuring out our personal life balance, and trying to take care of ourselves amidst the chaos - but we’re slowly and steadily establishing a rhythm.

We’ve rebooted livestreaming on Twitch (and now TikTok too) every Weds/Thurs and every other Fri; posting on TikTok more than ever; and taking a new approach to our music creative process. More exciting new plans are on the way, and we can’t wait to share everything with you all. We couldn’t have made it this far without the support of our fans and fams, and we’re incredibly grateful for everyone who’s been with us so far. Stay tuned!

Happy 2023, we hope this year sees positive growth and success for us all. Thank you for being here, and always remember: YOU ARE AMAZING!

Two souls separate, yet intertwined by fate. Overcoming life’s obstacles and insecurities, both within and without. Finding inner strength through adversity, relearning and redefining through community and interaction. A journey through the mind, finding keys to the soul.

We started this beat over a year before its release, as one of our Audius “Beat A Week” songs. We then wrote the lyrics after lots of late night conversations, soul-searching, and introspection together. We wanted to tell a story, loosely based on us and our own experiences, but not entirely accurately us… more the embodiment of these experiences. One escaping an uncaring, unloving and abusive situation; the other seeking guidance and answers to struggles and uncertainty. An interesting time to write this story, in the midst of a global pandemic.

Our intent was for the vocal pace to match the gradually intensifying instrumental, as the story progresses and gets more and more chaotic, until finally reaching its climax and resolution. The whole song is a fun adventure - and that definitely makes it hard to classify, because we pretty much switch genres with every drop. (And there are quite a few drops throughout the song.) Experimental electropop… maybe?

Either way, this is our favorite song we’ve made thus far, and we’re hella juiced it’s finally seeing the light of day! We worked pretty hard on this for a while, and we’re super grateful to everyone who helped us along the way. Thanks for listening fam, hope you enjoy the trip.

Soooo we were all there for 2020, right? We all seen, heard, know what happened, right? So why did so many people try to deny it? The global pandemic, systemic racist violent oppression, public blatant misogyny/homophobia/transphobia, widening income inequality gap, decreasing accessibility of healthcare & housing, rapid spread of fascism, and SO many other existing issues laid bare and exacerbated by the pandemic. Like bruh… open yall fucking eyes.

BUUUUUT since hella people want to play their damn games / choose to willingly get played by the system they believe in so much either because they are willingly ignorant, or they benefit from the existing systems of oppression - fuck ‘em! 

It’s up to each of us to educate ourselves, and it’s great to help each other out as much as we can. Empathy, compassion, kindness, love & understanding is what brings communities together and helps us all grow. That said, some (many) people don’t want help, don’t want to open up and see from a different perspective, don’t want to change. And it’s important to recognize that. Sometimes you just have to choose your battles.

We love our diverse homies, communities, spaces and everything we all do and accomplish together. And we’re gonna live our best lives no matter what, fam. Living your best life does NOT require oppression and hate of other people, yet as we’ve seen many would rather cling to supposed “comfort,” privilege, or simply status quo at the cost of their neighbors livelihoods - and sometimes their very lives. We’ve definitely argued with, unfriended, blocked, and cut off more people set & proud in their toxic ways than ever this past year. And this song goes out to all of them. Meanwhile we staying hydrated, moisturized, exfoliated, recreated, grounded, fleeked.

I can’t change your mind, I’ma just get mine. Watch from the sidelines.

SIT DOWN, SHUT UP WHILE WE LIVE OUR LIVES!

Fight the power, the powers be trippin’. Assuming control, our throats they grippin’. No more injustice. Push! Persistence! We hold the future. WE ARE RESISTANCE!!!

Short & sweet, this is our fight song. We just needed to go hard and channel the fiery, down & dirty spirit of resistance flowing through our veins. Get up, get out, run down the street, mob out through the city, scream it from the rooftops! (As long as you’re socially distanced or masked up or vaccinated. We’re doing this cuz we care about people, fam.) Whatever you feel compelled to, whatever you gotta do to make your voice heard. We won’t be silent in the face of brutality, in the face of discriminatory systemic issues; we won’t take shit lying down.

These emotions burst out the seams in “HARD”. It’s not pretty, it’s not polite, it’s not safe. HARD is a hard hitting, bass heavy track dripping in distortion and a deeper meaning.  It is a reflection of the aspects of society that have us feeling at times hopeless but mostly enraged.  Brave, righteous action taken in search of justice in the streets is distorted through a media lens which upholds a white supremacist narrative and portrays those leading resistance in the streets as bad or dangerous.  Meanwhile, state sanctioned violence is justified with ever increasing police and war budgets.  Black and Brown folks are not represented by the laws or government, and are left only one means to get their voice heard, then are villanized.  We will stand by no longer, we will be heard.  Change is not an option, it is the only sustainable future.  Until then, we will continue to fight, resist and support those taking action for change.  

We respect and support all those standing with BLM, in protests and in other forms.  We stand with the AAPI community against racism, rooted in colonialism and white supremacy upheld in our government system and media.  

p.s. originally the song was going to be named “H.A.R.D.” which stands for “Hayward Area Recreation District,” inspired by some warning signs we saw in a park in the middle of a late night stroll, while making this song. No beef with them though, shoutout to park maintenance people.

Visualizer

#self was one of those songs where the muse really HIT. We sat down one day randomly and just made the beat, wrote the lyrics and recorded the initial vocals in one session, with no sense of time. 

It was I think in June/July 2020 when we started it. The time was hella chaotic, confusing, depressing, strangely exciting in an anxiety-filled kinda way… it seemed like the world was on fire, and there was nothing we could do about it. Protests against racism & police violence, yet a pandemic keeping us inside. The mainstream mass media was going absolutely crazy, while some of the most extremist, ridiculous, misinformed underbelly alt-right underground media was reaching straight out from the depths and catching swaths of unwary people who just didn’t know what they really needed at the time. The division felt like a virtual civil war 2. Yet, thanks to lockdown, most of us were acutely aware of every development the media dubbed worthy.

But simultaneously on the other side of the coin, there was a sense of unification and empowerment we’d never quite felt before. Like there were also a huge amount of people sick and tired of systemic oppression in all its disgusting, subconscious (and overt) forms. And they/we were making it KNOWN. We were all using the same social tools - it was about finding the truth through the noise, noisy violent noise louder than ever.

Guess we just felt like we needed to make some noise too. And we’re going to keep speaking truth, as we learn and from within.

Fun fact: the verses were originally supposed to be sung by Josh because he wrote the melody, but he wasn’t able to sing some parts (no matter how much he practiced). So Corinita sang them instead. Teamwork, baby!

Lyric Video